Safehouse
by ichigofields
Summary: This is my take on what ideally should have happened with the Sectumsempra incident in Half Blood Prince. What I posted so far is rated T, but I labeled it M just as a precaution for later chapters. Harry/Draco, other pairings possible.
1. Chapter 1

Thanks for giving this one a chance. It's been quite a while since I've written anything, but I think this will be my best fic to date. Senior year Lit and Composition has done me a world of good. DISCLAIMER: The characters or themes mentioned here do not belong to me and, yes, this is slash. Please comment. Thank you!

This is how the Sectumsempra incident would have transpire if I had my way. Which I did and here it is :)

* * *

"Cruci"

"Sectumsempra!"

As the blood spurted from the other boy's face and chest, nothing seemed real to Harry but his own terror. He ran towards Draco. To help. To do something, but he knew of nothing and his horror left Harry paralyzed to do anything but gape as he knelt over the ghostly white boy twitching beneath him, blood was now pooling on the floor and soaking Harry's knees.

"No!" Harry gasped. "I didn't... no, I"

He hadn't known. He couldn't have known. Harry's ears wrung as he watched Snape shove him aside and he saw the black-haired professor's lips moving rapidly and his wand following the gashes in Draco's body. As Snape continued the incantation, Draco's wounds began to heal. When they were fully closed, he stood the trembling boy up. Harry barely understood the orders Snape spat at him as he walked Draco he regained control of his senses, Harry fought with the reality of what he had done. He felt as if he couldn't have been responsible for what had occurred but the image of a terrified Draco, blood pouring from his face was etched in his mind and Harry could do nothing but accept that yes, he had caused this. Curling into himself, Harry wept at what might have happened had Snape not intervened. Harry did not know how much time passed before Snape returned.

"Get up, Potter."

Harry rose slowly to his feet.

"What you did to Malfoy is not something you picked up in a classroom. Where did you learn such a dark curse?"

"I didn't know what it did. I never would have," stammered Harry.

"Answer me, Potter."

Harry was unsure of how to explain.

"I don't know. Can I talk to Dumbledore?"

"Potter, I doubt that even Professor Dumbledore will take up for you after this, but I'm sure he'll want a word, all the same. Besides, as it were, i can barely stand the sight of you. Up to his office, immediately." Snape turned on his heels and strode quickly off.

It seemed to take ages to get to Dumbledore's office. Surely he was quite a sight, soaked in blood and water, but the gaping stares people gave him made Harry sure they knew about the horrible thing he'd done. The trek was agony.

Dumbledore called him in before he could raise a fist to knock on the door.

"Tell me," he said calmly.

Before he could stop himself, Harry launched into the story of finding the mysterious book and taking its tips and bits of advice. He told Dumbledore about following Malfoy to the Room of Requirement and his suspicions about Katie. He gushed about the even that had just transpired in the bathroom and how he hadn't meant for anything of the sort to happen.

Dumbledore peered into Harry's eyes over his half-moon spectacles. He mulled over what Harry had said before speaking.

"Certainly, testing out an unknown curse was unwise and very dangerous. Of course, I am positive you did not intend for what happened. As for Mr. Malfoy, Madam Pomfrey will see to it that he is restored to tip top condition. I will look into the things you have told me, but for now, surely you will want to change into clean, dry clothes. You are excused from your afternoon classes. Stay in your dormitory. Take the time to calm yourself, and to rest."

"But, professor, can't I go visit Malfoy in the hospital wing?" asked Harry. He seemed almost surprised at the words that had come from his mouth.

Dumbledore gave him a curious look.

"Harry, your desire to set things right is admirable, but you and Draco are not on amiable terms at the best of times. Perhaps it would be best if you put off seeing him."

"Yes, sir," said Harry before he turned and left the office.

Harry had been sitting in the same spot for three and a half hours before Ron and Hermione returned to the common room from their afternoon classes. They swept in, scooped him up by either arm, and dragged him up to his and Ron's dormitory.

"What happened?" they asked in unison as they dropped him on the bed.

Harry was quite reluctant to recount the entire episode again, but Ron and Hermione deserved to know, outside of the fact that they would hear a distorted version of what happened later if he did not tell them the truth now.

He finished his account to horrified silence. Harry sighed. He felt better now that he had told them, but he knew it wasn't over yet.

"HARRY! HOW MANY TIMES DID I TELL YOU NOT TO TRUST THAT THING? YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS? THIS COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED BUT AS USUAL YOU'D RATHER DO SOMETHING COMPLETELY STUPID THAN LISTEN TO ME!"

"Hermione," Ron said soothingly, trying to stop her yelling, "Harry's learned his lesson. He feels bad enough. Let's go downstairs and work on that mountain of Transfiguration homework McGonagall assigned. We'll leave you to rest, Harry. Of course you didn't mean this to happen so try no to beat yourself up too much. Besides, Malfoy's not worth any loss of sleep."

Harry watched as his friends left the room. It had been a very traumatic day, and right then rest sounded like a terrific idea. Harry crawled into bed without even bothering to change into his pajamas. He slept fitfully. His dreams were plagued by images of Draco Malfoy's frightened face. A face filled with a fear that Harry had caused. When he awoke, Harry resolved to sneak into the hospital wing and apologize to Malfoy. To explain himself. Harry climbed out of bed to find all four of his roommates asleep. The deep rhythm of their snores assured him he was clear to sneak out. Harry grabbed his Invisibility cloaked and the Marauder's Map just before ducking down the stairs.

As he went out through the portrait hole, Harry's stomach rumbled. He realized he hadn't eaten since the morning. He decided to go steal some food from the kitchens before going to the hospital wing. Twenty minutes and a close brush with Mrs. Norris later, Harry crept through the doors of the infirmary holding a basket of sandwiches and cartons of pumpkin juice, packed neatly by Dobby the house elf, in one hand.


	2. Chapter 2

Draco was the only patient in the infirmary. Harry had expected to find him awake, and had been right.

"Back to finish me off, Potter?" Malfoy said not with his usual sneer, but as if he really was interested to know.

"No, Malfoy, I didn't mean for what happened. That's why I came down here... to apologize. I didn't know what the curse would do."

"Still committed to your little act of innocence, I see. You don't have to be. Just be done with it, Potter. You know I can't fight back. Dumbledore made sure of that when he "put my wand in safekeeping" for the night. Not that I actually would have fought. What do I have worth fighting for?"

Harry wasn't used to the normally proud, Draco Malfoy speaking this way. It disturbed him.

"Malfoy just stop it, okay? Shut up! I came in here to apologize, not hurt you!" Harry yelled, forgetting himself.

"Then why are you still here?" the paler boy asked quietly, looking Harry directly in the eyes.

It was a valid question. Harry had apologized. He'd done what he set out to do. But as he looked into Malfoy's steel-gray eyes and saw the pain there, he felt as if he could not leave.

"Have it your way, then," Malfoy said when he did not respond, " I suppose you'll want to savor this. Presumably, I'll be the first Death Eater you kill. Surely your dear Sirius will have taught you to enjoy a moment like this."

Harry was reeling. Draco Malfoy had just admitted to being a Death Eater, and he fully expected Harry to kill him for it. He seemed impatient for it to happen.

"Potter," Malfoy hissed venomously, "Just do it! If you're expecting me to beg for mercy you'll just have to be disappointed. There's no way anything you can do to me is worse than what Voldemort would have done when he found out I couldn't kill your precious Dumbledore. Do what you came in here to do, O chosen one. Potter, vanquisher of evil. Hurry up and fucking kill me."

Harry stared into the angry, completely hopeless face of the other boy. His heart broke when he saw without a doubt that this broken soul genuinely wanted to die.

"Draco, listen to me. I am not going to hurt you. Before now I didn't even know for sure that you were a Death Eater. I didn't know any of what you just said."

Draco's face was perfect confusion, and Harry could see his mind working to process what he'd just learned. Suddenly a horror that had been absent the whole time blossomed on the boy's face. He became frantic.

"No! Potter, you have to kill me!When the Dark Lord finds out... my parents. NO, no, no. Potter, please." He leaped from the bed and knelt at Harry's feet. "Potter, I'm begging you. You must to kill me."

"I can't, Draco. I won't." Harry stooped and attempted to pull the other boy to his feet, but was instead dragged to the floor with him.

Draco grabbed Harry by the shoulders, boring his tear filled, gray eyes into Harry's green ones.

"I don't know why you care, but if you don't kill me now, you're condemning me to something much worse. When Lord Voldemort finds me..." tears began streaming down his face and it was several moments before he could continue. "Potter, Voldemort has methods of torture you couldn't imagine in your most evil nightmares. If you want to save me, this is the only way.

As Draco looked into Harry's eyes he saw his fate seal. This boy would not kill him. Draco's body crumpled and a fresh, seemingly endless flow of tears started. The sobs shook his body and he gasped wildly for breath. Harry was powerless to stop his own tears as he instinctively pulled Draco to him. Wrapping his arms around the boy he spoke soothingly.

"I won't let that happen to you. He won't find you. I know you are afraid, but you have to trust me. Dumbledore will protect you. I will protect you. You have to trust me."

The power of Draco's sobs cause him to cough and the coughing caused him to choke. Harry held him through all of it. He reached into the basket and pulled out a carton of pumpkin juice which he handed to Draco.

"Will you trust me?" Harry asked quietly, feeling as if his whole world depended on the other boys answer.

Draco's chest heaved, and he gave a few more sniffs and hiccups before answering.

"Its like you say... I have to," Draco mumbled into his juice.

After a pause, Draco looked up to see Harry grinning at him. He couldn't help but smile weakly.

"I purposefully break your nose, and you come bring me juice in the infirmary when you accidentally curse me. You really are one of a kind, Potter."

Really it had been so much more than that. Somehow, instinctively Draco could tell, for some miraculous reason, Harry Potter truly did care about him, and want to protect him. It was unexplainable, dizzying to think about, but undeniably true.

The dark haired boy stood up.

"Call me Harry," he said as he took Draco's hand and pulled him up to stand beside him.

Draco couldn't deny that he'd earned that and so much more. Harry had earned his trust, his loyalty. A tiny part of him left over from before the war and all that he'd been through because of it resented that fact. Scoffed at the fact that he'd become one of precious Potter's many fans. But mostly he was excited. He knew this would be a great friendship. The first real one he'd ever had. He knew that he would stand behind Harry in whatever he did. Fight with him or for him. How could he not?

"Okay, Harry," said Draco, and oddly enough it didn't feel strange. It felt right, just as having Harry's arms around him had felt right. These were simultaneously very comforting and very troubling thought, but Draco supposed that there were several more pressing issues he had to worry about.

"So what do we do know?" Draco asked.

"Well, now we have to go see Dumbledore."

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A/N: There you have it. The first two chapters. Hopefully going with the whole "redeeming power of love" thing wasn't too cheesy for you. It was the only way I could think of to bring them together without spending eons on character development. Please tell me what you thought. New chapters will be up as soon as AP testing week will allow me to get them out to you.


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